When we first laid eyes on business owner, Mr T’s (no, not that guy) Suzuki Swift Sport, we didn’t really know what to expect. After all, while it’s clear there have been some modifications done to it (the low ride height and aggressive wheel offsets, along with the bronze Volk Racing TE37 wheels), nothing quite prepares you for exactly how heavily tweaked this Swift Sport is.
This, though, became apparent just five minutes into our conversation with this car’s owner, whose first response to the question of what’s been done to it was, “there’s too many, I can’t remember them all offhand”.
This Suzuki Swift Sport features a giddying array of mods (many of them custom-built), installed and tuned to perfection by his garage of choice: Applied Performance. All the better to help Mr T set a searing lap time on the frequent track days he attends.
And from that circuit enthusiast bent, it’s clear the mods to Mr T’s Swift Sport are, like a racecar, chosen more for their functional nature, and not so much to enhance its “show pony” status. That said, like a thoroughbred racer, the car’s carbon fibre bonnet, front lip spoiler, rear diffuser, tailgate and rear spoiler have a certain, brutal function-over-form appeal.
As with this Swift Sport’s exterior, its interior has the same no-nonsense minimalism. There are no flashy LEDs or other aesthetic customisations to speak of. No time, money, and more importantly, weight, was wasted in here as well, with every non-stock component serving to help its driver in the act of going faster.
Holding the driver snugly during said act is a fixed-back Recaro RS-G S bucket seat, with the critical touch points taken care of by a set of Carbing Dash aluminium pedals and a Personal Neo Grinta steering wheel (the latter has a racecar-style quick release).
Helping keep a close eye on the (we think rather rapid) proceedings is an oversized Defi tachometer, and Defi ZD club sport gauges, comprising water temperature, oil temperature and oil pressure.
However, these are but the visible improvements on Mr T’s ride. The real drama comes when you find out what’s under the hood, a place where Applied Performance has really cut loose.
This Swift Sport has had its 1.6-litre engine so heavily fettled, it probably shares only the barest whisper of a resemblance with the one in stock trim. The engine in Mr T’s car has received a set of forged pistons from Monster Sport (specially designed for use in tuned engines), uprated cams from Greddy, K1 Technologies forged conrods, a ported-and-polished engine head and a balanced crankshaft.
This is in addition to an intake manifold taken from a Honda S2000 and a throttle body from a DC5-generation Honda Integra Type R. The above two parts have received some adaptation work from Applied Performance to help it fit on Mr T’s car.
Needless to say, Mr T’s Swift Sport also has some bits to help it “keep its cool” during hard track driving in the form of an uprated radiator by Koyo and a Mocal engine oil cooler.
But that’s not all. To deal with the heavily worked engine’s increased thirst for air is a custom-made (by Applied Performance, too) air intake, and keeping the air’s “passage” smooth the other way as well is a full exhaust system from Sunline Racing.
And it goes without saying that this Swift Sport’s chassis has received some appropriately racy modifications to its “footwork”, in the form of a full complement of reinforcement braces (front fender bar, floor brace, rear strut bar) and a G-Effect ZC Pro coilover suspension kit courtesy of Tryforce.
As with most things about this Swift Sport, though, the devil is in the details. Applied Performance has treated Mr T’s car to a custom lower suspension arm (with an integrated bracket for the anti-roll bar) for the front axle. This was done to allow the front suspension to be more rigid and in turn, provide for a more precise front end when cornering hard.
But perhaps the best thing about this Swift Sport is its owner’s attachment to it. It has just a few years left before its COE is due for renewal, a day Mr T isn’t looking forward to at all.
That’s understandable, given that in addition to the painstaking work done to the Swift Sport, it’s been his faithful companion on countless track days and has been so heavily personalised, it probably feels like an extension of himself.
And that, more than the eye-popping engine that’s been modded to within an inch of its life and more than the stellar work done by Applied Performance, is perhaps the thing that makes Mr T’s car such a special machine.
+ Exterior
Project S carbon fibre bonnet
Ganador carbon fibre mirrors
Chargespeed carbon fibre front lip spoiler
Suzuki Sport front grille
Sunline carbon fibre rear diffuser
OEM carbon fibre rear boot
Mooncrest rear spoiler
+ Interior
Recaro RS-G S bucket seat
Bride seat-rails
Defi ZD Club Sport gauges
Defi tachometer
AEM air/fuel mixture gauge
Works steering boss kit
Works steering wheel quick release
Personal Neo Grinta steering wheel
Carbing Dash pedals
Project S heel plate
+ Engine
Monster Sport forged pistons
Greddy cams
K1 Technologies forged conrods
Custom balanced crankshaft
Custom ported-and-polished engine head
Honda S2000 intake manifold
Honda Integra Type R throttle body
Custom ram air intake
Koyo radiator
Mocal oil cooler
Greddy breather tank
Greddy oil catch tank
Odyssey lightweight battery
RRP engine mounts
DTA Fast S60 Pro standalone ECU
Sunline Racing exhaust header
Sunline Racing midpipe
Sunline Racing exhaust
+ Suspension/ Handling
Tryforce G-Effect ZC Pro coilovers
AP Racing Pro 5000 4-pot brake callipers
Ferodo DS2500 brake pads (street use)
Carbone Lorraine RC6E brake pads (track use)
Custom front suspension lower arm
Cusco front suspension lower arm pillowball bushings
Cusco front anti-roll bar
Sunline Racing front fender bar
Project S front tension bar
Laille Beatrush floor bar
Carbing rear strut bar
+Wheels/Tyres
Volk Racing TE37 15-inch wheels (track use)
Hankook Z221, 195/55 R15 tyres (track use)
Buddy Club P1 Racing SF 15-inch wheels (street use)
Dunlop Z1 Star 195/55/R15 tyres (street use)
